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While work was proceeding with the P 1052 and the P1081, Hawker tried out the Snarler rocket on the P1040 which, with this addition, became the P1072. The Snarler was an Armstrong-Siddeley rocket installation fitted to the tail of the aircraft, but powered by a Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet exhausting via bifurcated ducts in the wing roots, the idea being to get the rocket airborne for experimental engine development. After a conventional first flight in November 1950, the rocket was successfully used four days later. Six flights were made with the Snarler, taking off normally on the jet engine, and lighting the rocket at a fairly low altitude, putting the aircraft into a climb. With the Nene jet engine working at full power, together with the thrust of the rocket, the aircraft went up not beyond 40,000 feet-the, aircraft had no pressurized cabin.